“It was the 11th hour, and the label wanted more songs. It was the last crack. I was just pissed. I wanted to make a record and the label was applying a lot of pressure.”

Some of the lyrics:

So condescending unnecessarily critical

I have the tendency of getting very physical

So watch your step ‘cause if I do you’ll need a miracle

Summer of 69

Bryan Adams — Summer of ‘69

What it’s actually about: According to Adams, the song isn’t as innocent as everyone thinks.

“Some parts are autobiographical, but the title comes from the idea of 69 as a metaphor for sex,” Adams said.

“Most people thought it was about the year 1969.”

Some of the lyrics:

Man we were killin’ time

We were young and restless

We needed to unwind

Closing Time

Semisonic — Closing Time

What’s it actually about: The band’s singer, Dan Wilson, told concertgoers that he wanted to write a song about his newborn baby. But he knew his band mates would find that cheesy, so he made it sound like the song was actually about something else.

“They think it’s about being bounced from a bar but it’s about being bounced from the womb,” Wilson said.

Some of the lyrics:

Time for you to go out to the places you will be from

Closing time

This room won’t be open till your brothers or your sisters come

Ticket to Ride

The Beatles — Ticket to ride

What it’s actually about: According to journalist Don Short, this Beatles classic could actually be about prostitutes.

“The girls who worked the streets in Hamburg had to have a clean bill of health and so the medical authorities would give them a card saying that they didn’t have a dose of anything,” Short was quoted as saying in A Hard Day’s Write.

“I was with The Beatles when they went back to Hamburg in June 1966 and it was then that John told me that he had coined the phrase ‘a ticket to ride’ to describe these cards.

“He could have been joking — you always had to be careful with John like that — but I certainly remember him telling me that.”

Some of the lyrics:

She’s got a ticket to ride

But she don’t care

Boys Light Up

Australian Crawl — Boys Light Up

What it’s actually about: James Reyne was quite open when he was asked during an ABC interview what the song’s actually about.

“It’s about fellatio,” he said.

Some of the lyrics:

Her back is arched, those lips are parched

Repeated blow by blow

I Shot the Sheriff

Bob Marley — I Shot the Sheriff

What it’s actually about: Bob Marley was furious that his girlfriend was prescribed birth control pills. According to the documentary Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend, the doctor who prescribed the pills went on to become the Sheriff.